Politics as Monkey Business: Citizen Perceptions of Political Lying and Attitudes Toward Democracy

Politicians across the world have regularly been accused of lying for personal political gain. While research on disinformation and fake news has increased, little research has focused on the perceptions and repercussions of political lying for representative democracy. Using a combination of citizen science – by means of a panel diary project and a nationally representative survey experiment, this paper, first, explores how and when Dutch citizens perceive political leaders to be lying, or not. The hypothesis will be tested that partisanship and affective polarization drive the perceptions of political lying. Second, the paper tests how perceptions of political lying affect citizens’ attitudes toward democracy and support for alternative forms of governance, such as expert-rule and authoritarianism. The hypothesis is tested that political lying by political opponents negatively affects support for liberal democracy and increases citizens’ appetite for non-democratic forms of governance. As accusations of political lying are prevalent in many modern democracies, the findings of this paper will have profound implications for understanding citizens’ views on political representation and liberal democracy.